Kolkata, September 18 (TNA) The Election Commission has allotted new names and election symbols to the two rival factions of the Trinamool Congress ahead of the October 6 Assembly bypolls in West Bengal.
The faction led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest as the “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and has been allotted the “Football Player” election symbol. The rebel faction has been named the “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and assigned the “Envelope” symbol.
The new names and symbols will apply temporarily to the upcoming bypolls. The Commission’s decision came a day after it froze the use of the original party name, All India Trinamool Congress, and its traditional “Flowers and Grass” symbol amid the leadership dispute.
EC’s interim arrangement
The poll panel said the temporary arrangement was meant to keep both rival groups on equal footing and protect their rights and interests until the Commission decides the organisational dispute. The Commission will continue examining the rival claims under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
The Commission asked both factions to submit their preferred names and free symbols after neither group was allowed to use the original party identity for the bypolls. Following their submissions, the Commission allotted the football-player symbol to the Mamata-led faction and the envelope symbol to the rival camp.
October 6 bypolls
The two factions will use the newly allotted names and symbols in the October 6 bypolls. The Election Commission’s order covers the West Bengal Assembly constituencies of Nandigram and Rejinagar, along with the Nagaon parliamentary constituency in Assam, according to reports.
Both groups will be treated as recognised political parties in West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura for the purpose of the interim arrangement. The original party name and “Flowers and Grass” symbol will remain frozen until the Commission issues its final ruling.
The development marks a significant escalation in the dispute over control of the Trinamool Congress and is expected to make the upcoming bypolls a direct electoral contest between the two rival camps.